Sign-supporting structure.



E. W. GRUBER. SIGN SUPPORTING STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED J M4.'l0. m1.

Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

MANIFOLD TRUNK TOLEDO OHIO RSK TH E BRGGRGE M ERNEST W- GRUBEFQ.

pnirnn stares PATENT @FFEQE ERNEST W. GRUBER, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

sren-surroarrue sri uorunn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed .Tanuary'lt), 1917. Serial No. 141,648.

.timore, State of Maryland, havef nvented certain new and useful lm'provenie t in Sign Supporting Structures-, pr the following 1 pe ifi o e rents beiiig h d t h fla e e i s drawi g I I'This invention relates to standing" signs such as "are disposed on house tops, along a railroad system-and in other like situations.

' Ordinarily the signs, which-are made of sheets of tin, are attached to a supporting frameworkby nailing, bolting, or like means and this s lnconvenlent and in a sense expensive as the signs themselves cannot be removed from the frame or interchanged and must be torn down when it is desired toremove the sign and anew sign put up in place of the old one.

' Anotherobject of my invention is to providea sign suporting'structu're comprising a supporting frame and a sign stretcher or signYf -ame upon which the sign is placed, the "supporting structure being provided with"soekets and the sign stretcher with pintl'es or like hangers detachably engagesaid sockets.

" A further object is to provide a structure ,of this character wherein the sign may be formed ofrelatively small sections so as to be readily handled and still another object is to provide a construction of this character in which the sign may be locked orotherwise fastened to the sign supporting structure so as to prevent the sign sections from being removed without authority.

ther objects have to do with the detailed construction of the sign supporting structure and the stretcher frame aswill hereafter more fully appear.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure lis a front view of a sign structure constructed in accordance with my invention, the sign being partly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a face view of one of the section stretchers;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the stretcher frame and one of the sockets;

Fig. 4: is a fragmentary end elevation of a s1 section and the supporting frame.

eferring to these figures, it will be seen that the sign itself is formed in sections. it have illustrated a sign formed in two sections, designated A. and B, each of these sections being approximately alike. Each section is mounted upon a stretcher compris jing the vertical members 10 and the hori- Fzontal upper and lower members 11 and 12.

:This frame is preferably composed of two- "inch strips, though of course the size of the strips will depend upon the area of the seciti0n's. These strips are fastened to each other in any suitable manner and formed with any desired joints and the sign 13 which is of tin, though it may be of any other material, is nailed or otherwise attached to the stretcher frame. Upon the vertical members 10 of the stretcher frame Patented Jan. s, 191%.

adjacent the horizontal members are dis- I posed hangers which are adapted to detachably engage the supporting frame of the sign. Each of these hangers comprises a base plate 14 from which projects an angular pintle-like bracket 15, which is preferably made of round iron bent at right angles and connected rigidly to the base plate either by bein cast with the base plate or otherwise rigidly attached thereto. Each of the pintle-like members 15 will be about a of an inch in diameter and the bases of the hangers are attached to the framework by screws, bolts or in any other suitable way.

The sign supporting frame comprises vertical members 16, horizontal members 17, and downwardly and rearwardly extending braces 19. This frame may be jointed in any suitable manner but, as illustrated, the horizontal members extend across the rear faces of the vertical members and are attached thereto by. bolts. At intervals along the top scantling or beam 17 of the frame are disposed a plurality of large staples 20 for a purpose to be later stated and upon the front or outer faces of the vertical scantlings or standards 16 are disposed a plurality of socket members designated 21, these socket members each comprising an angular strip of iron of any suitable thickness having an aperture 22 in the horizontal web or flange of the socket member. The base flange is attached to the upright scantlings 16 by means of screws, bolts, or in any other suitable manner and these socket members are adapted to receive the pintles 15 of the sign hangers. Preferably the socket members are disposed above and below the middle longitudinal beam or scantling 17 and above the lower longitudinal scantling 17 and below the upper scantling 17 for the reason that otherwise the bolts which attach the socket members to the vertical scantlings or uprights would have to pass through about seven inches of Wood.

It willbe noted that the hangers are dis posed upon the stretcher above the lower edge and below the upper edge of the stretcher so that when the sign sections'are mounted upon the supporting frame, the adjacent edges of the sign sections will meet. While I have illustrated a sign composed of merely two sections, it is to be understood that any number of sections may be used to form the sign. The larger the sign, the more sections will be required. If, for instance, the sign is 12 ft. by 10 ft., then it is necessary to make at least two sections, each section being 12 ft. by 5 ft.

It will be seen that this manner of hang-.

ing supporting signs is very convenient for the reason that it permits signs to be readily interchanged and, after the lease at a certain location has expired, the sign may be readily removed, replaced by another sign, and the old sign taken to a new situation, if desired. Furthermore, if the sign is damaged by storms, the sections may be readil removed and new sections put in place an because of the fact that the signs are interchangeable, it will permit of a stronger and more permanent construction being used for the sign supporting frame. It will further be seen that there will be no necessity of repainting the sign board every time that the sign is changed, but that it will be an easy matter to remove the old sign sections and replace them with new ones and then, if desired, repaint the old sign sections or transfer them to a new location.

In order to prevent the unauthorized removal of the sign sections by mischief makers, I have provided the staples 20 mounted upon the upper longitudinal beams 17 and the middle longitudinal beams 17 or I claim is:

1. The combination with a sign supporting structure comprising vertical members, horizontal connecting members and braces, each of the vertical members being provided with angular brackets having sockets formed therein, of a plurality of sign sections coacting with the supporting structure, each section comprising horizontal member and vertical members connected to each other, and hangers connected to the vertical members and each comprising a base and a shank adapted for insertion in the sockets.

2. The combination with a sign supporting structure having sockets, a sign frame, the frame having hangers removably engaging the sockets and supporting the sign frame with one end in alinement with one end of the sign supporting structure, and means for detachably locking the sign frame in place comprising a hinge leaf swingingly connected to the sign frame, rotatable into position over the adjacent end of the supporting structure, said hinge leaf being slotted, and an eye on the supporting structure engaging through said hinge leaf and adapted to receive a locking device.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

, ERNEST W. GRUBER.

Witnesses:

CAROLINE GRUBER,

KATHARINE E. GRUBER. 

